Cassidy Ellis, 23, of Yorba Linda for the first time sees her diamond necklace. COURTESY OF JAIRO RAMIREZ OF TELEFLORA

Cassidy Ellis, 23, of Yorba Linda knows that when something is too good to be true, sometimes it actually is true.

Ellis, a communications major at Cal State Fullerton, recently won a $15,000 diamond necklace in the "Love Rocks" sweepstakes from Teleflora for her side job of spending90 minutes a day online entering sweepstakes.

"As long as you get small wins here and there, you keep going," Ellis said.

Ellis was one of nine contestants who won necklaces – but she almost didn't win.

Someone from Los Angeles was set to get the necklace with a 14-karat white-gold heart and a one-carat diamond.

"They thought it was a scam," Ellis said.

Until the necklace, the biggest prize Ellis had won was a Kindle Fire tablet. With her mother recently losing her job, the necklace news was a morale boost for the family.

"We're just going through a really rough time right now, so it came at the perfect time," Ellis said.

Ellis' mother told her to keep the necklace. But she might not hang on to it forever: She wants to marry her girlfriend, Carissa Parra, one day.

"If all I can afford to do is just take that stone out and put it in a ring for her, then that's what I have to do," Ellis said.

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